I refer to the Malaysiakini report TI-M president resigns over the publicity of the Global Corruption Report (GCR) 2009

I am perplexed about the reaction over the report's publication. It is a sad reflection of how the people here in Malaysia are still largely unaware about the impact of the work of the international civil society movement and the methods it employs.

The report was published with some disclaimers – which are provided in the opening pages:

‘Every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained in this report, including allegations. All information was believed to be correct as of January 2009.

‘Nevertheless, Transparency International cannot guarantee the accuracy and the completeness of the contents. Nor can Transparency International accept responsibility for the consequences of its use for other purposes or in other contents.

‘Contributions to the Global Corruption Report 2009 by authors external to Transparency International do not necessarily reflect the view of Transparency International or its national chapters.’

The GCR publication is also one of the ‘trademark’ products of the international movement and it is freely available to everyone all around the world, easily downloaded from Transparency International from Sept 23 onwards.

‘Rightfully all TI members should have been given the chance to vote on the report before it was released....in this case it became a very serious mistake,’ Robert Phang was quoted as saying.

And he also said: ‘It is an open secret that what Low had said in the GCR invited the PKFZ and its board of directors and executive chairman to consider a suit against TI-M.’

This is a puzzling statement as the report was written based on numerous online and international publications which include documents accessed from the Malaysian Parliament, from local and international press and from the Malaysian Bar Council.

It is certainly not formulated according to Low’s personal opinions. By relying much on the above sources of news, the report highlighted the role of the Fourth Estate – the press, as a source of information to the public.

In fact, any Malaysian who followed the country's socio-political affairs in 2007 and 2008 would be able to access all those information from the Internet.

All this controversy seem to eclipse the intention of the report which is to highlight the process through which corruption is perceived to proliferate in the private sector.

I have high regards for Robert Phang, and by writing this letter I do not wish to offend anyone - I am only trying to understand why the report has been such a source of discontent.

I urge the public, media practitioners and other NGOs in Malaysia to download the report and decide for themselves.